Pin-back buttons

ABSTRACT

&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;Pin-back&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; buttons, as commonly used on clothing, shoes, handbags and other articles of flexible carrier material are distinguished by their method of securing to the carrier material. The button has an opening in its rear face to receive a pin having a head. The pin is pushed through the carrier material and into the opening of the button. In the button there are gripping means, to engage the pin, consisting of one or more elements formed at an inward inclination adjacent the opening and so arranged as to permit easy insertion of the pin but prevent any withdrawing movement of the pin. The invention provides an improved arrangement of gripping means incorporated in an insert, the insert being engaged in an undercut seating formed at the rear wall of the button and being locked against inward movement by a flange and against outward movement by the undercut seating.

UWen

States Patent [.19'1

[45] Jan. 15, 1974 I 1 PIN-BACK BUTTONS [75] Inventor: Cyril Howard Owen, Hockley,

England [73] Assignee: A. Ornstin Limited, London,

England [22] Filed: Feb. 4, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 223,573

[52] [1.8. CI. 24/90 PR, 24/90 E, 24/108 [5]] Int CI A44b l/l8 [58] Field of Search 24/90 PR, 90 W, 103, 24/108, 216, 217, 90 E, 90 F, 102

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 474,252 5/1892 Jackson 24/90 PR 3,623,192 11/1971 Papazian 24/90 PR FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 3,164 l2/I865 Great Britain 24/108 53,829 [0/1890 Germany 24/113 R Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay Assistant ExaminerDarrell Marquette Att0rneyWilliam Anthony Drucker 5 7 ABSTRACT Pin-back buttons, as commonly used on clothing, shoes, handbags and other articles of flexible carrier material are distinguished by their method of securing to the carrier material. The button has an opening in its rear face to receive a pin having a head. The pin is pushed through the carrier material and into the opening of the button. In the button there are gripping means, to engage the pin, consisting of one or more elements formed at an inward inclination adjacent the opening and so arranged as to permit easy insertion of the pin but prevent any withdrawing movement of the pin. The invention provides an improved arrangement of gripping means incorporated in an insert, the insert being engaged in an undercut seating formed at the rear wall of the button and being locked against inward movement by a flange and against outward movement by the undercut seating.

12 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures ll PIN-BACK. BUTTONS This invention relates to buttons of the pin-back type, as commonly used on clothing, shoes, handbags and other articles incorporating flexible carrier material.

This kind of button is distinguished by its method of securing to the carrier material. The main body of the button has an opening in its rear face to receive a pin which carries a head. The pin is pushed through the carrier material from the back, and inserted into the rear opening of the button. Within the button there are provided means to engage and grip the pin so as to prevent its withdrawal. The means for gripping the pin consist of an element, or a portion of the button back itself, which is formed at an inward inclination adjacent the edge of the opening, thereby to permit relatively easy insertion of the pin which can slide past the inclined element; however, any attempt to withdraw the pin causes the inclined element to grip firmly onto the shank of the pin.

In a first known construction of this kind of button, the whole of the back wall of the button is made of spring steel and a star-shaped aperture is formed so as to leave a number of spring fingers which define, between their tips, an opening for the pin. Such a construction works well, but the relatively high cost of the spring steel material for the whole of button back makes the entire button relatively expensive to produce.

In another known construction, the main area of the button back is made of less costly non-springy material, and a relatively small spring-steel insert is secured over a hole in the button back, the insert again having a starshaped aperture which leaves spring fingers defining the opening for the pin. The insert is secured to the button back by pressing out of the back a set of tabs spaced round the circumference of the insert and which are bent over onto the insert to retain it in posi- 'tion. This construction has the disadvantage that the tabs may become forced open when pressure is applied to force the pin through the insert, and because the formation of these tabs leaves a set of holes in the button back, thereby making it difficult for the user to guide the point of the securing pin correctly into the opening of the insert, and not into one or other of the tab holes.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved construction in which advantage is taken of the use of a spring-metal insert instead of making the entire button back of spring-metal, whilst at the same time providing a very secure and permanent fixing of the insert and avoiding the formation of other holes in proximity to the pin-receiving opening of the insert.

According to the present invention a back portion, for a pin-back button, comprises a rear wall having an aperture from the periphery of which a flange extends towards the interior to define an undercut seating, means on the flange to form a stop at the inner end of said seating, and a spring-metal pin-receiving insert disposed in said seating, said insert being locked against inward movement by said stop means and being locked against outward movement by engagement with said undercut seating.

The flange and the stop means thereon are preferably unbroken circumferential elements, but a castellated or spaced-tongue construction could carry out the same function, although with less inherent strength.

The. portion of the insert which engages with the stop means and with the flange undercut is preferably an unbroken circumferential element, but could have a castellated or spaced tongue construction.

In a preferred embodiment, the flange defines a frusto-conical peripheral wall which forms a snug fit within the seating. In such a construction, the stop means may conven-iently be a radially inwardly directed lip positioned at the inner end of the flange, e.g., the rim of the flange may be swaged radially inwardly, after positioning the insert in the seating, so as to abut against the inner end of the side wall of the insert.

The axial depth of the seating and the axial depth of the insert are preferably made identical, thereby to leave the rear face of the insert in the. same plane as the rear face of the button back.

The insert may thus be a shallow dished member having an upwardly and outwardly sloping side wall and with a central aperture in the shape of a multi-armed star so as to define between the arms of the star a set of spring teeth or lugs. The lugs are inclined towards the interior of the button back and they define, between their ends, the opening for the shank of the fixing pm.

The button back may be a dished body having a side wall which is out-turned at its top edge for engagement thereon, in conventional manner, of a C-section button top, with the inter-positioning of a sheet of flexible decorative covering material between the top and the back.

The invention thus includes within its scope not only the button back with its insert, but also the combinations of such a button back with a top component, with or without covering material engaged therebetween, and assemblies of such combinations, by means of a pin, on a portion of flexible sheet material.

In order that the nature of the invention may be readily ascertained, an embodiment of covered pin-back button incorporating a button back in accordance therewith is hereinafter particularly described with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the button back with a springmetal insert in position therein, but before insertion of a pin;

FIG. 2 is a section taken on the line IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section, corresponding to the line II-II of FIG. 1, of the complete covered button assembled by means of a pin into a portion sheet material.

The button back comprises a dish-shaped body 1 having a side wall 2 and a generally plane back wall 3. The back wall 3 is apertured centrally at 4 and from the rim of the aperture a flange 5 extends towards the interior of the button back. This flange 5 is in the form of a frusto-conical wall which defines a seating whose cross-sectional area increases in the direction towards the interior of the button back, thereby to form an undercut. At its inner end, the flange 5 is inturned radially to form a swaged rim 6 which acts as a stop for an insert to be described below.

An insert 7, made of spring-metal such as spring steel, has a plane back wall 8 and a similarly frustoconical side wall 9 which forms a snug fit against the internal face of the flange 5, and which abuts at its inner end against the swaged rim 6..The insert is accordingly prevented from moving outwardly by reason of its engagement with the frusto-conical undercut, and is prevented from moving inwardly by the stop rim 6.

The insert has an aperture in the form of a star with arms 10, and between adjacent arms there are defined lugs 11 which are inclined inwardly with respect to the plane of the wall 8, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3.

For securing the button on a portion 12 of sheet material, such as the cloth of a garment, a pin 13 with a head 14 is inserted through the material 12 and forced into the central opening 15 of the insert 7 and pushed fully home. The engagement of the tips of the lugs 11 with the shank of the pin prevents the pin from being withdrawn, and the button back is held firmly onto the material 12 by reason of the head 13.

The button back 1 has its side wall 2 provided with an outwardly turned lip 16, and a C-section button top 17 having an inturned lip 18 is engaged as a force fit onto the button back, with the inter-positioning of a portion 19 of decorative covering fabric which becomes gripped between the back and the top.

in such a construction, only the insert 7 need be made of relatively expensive spring metal, and the remainder of the button back 1 can be of less costly nonspringy material. The engagement of the insert 7 by its wall 9 with the wall 5 of the flange, and at the inner end of its wall 9 with the swaged rim 6, ensures that the insert is and remains extremely firmly secured in the button back, and will not be shifted or loosened by any normal pressure exerted on it during insertion of the usual pin 13. The rear face of the button back, with the insert therein, presents only the single opening 15 so that there is no difficulty for the user to find the opening, by feel, when inserting the pin.

1 claim:

1. A back portion, for a pin-back button, comprising a rear wall having an aperture from the periphery of which a flange extends at an angle to said rear wall and towards the interior to define an undercut seating, means on said flange to form a stop at the inner end of said seating, and a spring-metal pin-receiving insert disposed in said seating, said insert being locked against inward movement by abutment against said stop means and being locked against outward movement by engagement with said undercut seating.

2. A back portion, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flange defines a frusto-conical seating, and wherein the insert has a correspondingly frusto-conical side wall which forms a snug fit within said seating.

3. A back portion, as claimed in claim 2 wherein said stop means is a radially inwardly directed lip positioned at the inner end of the flange.

4. A back portion, as claimed in claim 3, wherein said lip is a rim portion of the flange swaged inwardly to abut against the inner end of the side wall of the insert.

5. A back portion, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the axial depth of the seating and the axial depth of the insert are the same, whereby the rear face of the insert is in the same plane as the rear wall of the button back.

6. The method of making a button back as claimed in claim 4 which includes the steps of positioning the insert in the seating and thereafter swaging the rim of the flange radially inwardly to abut against the inner end of the side wall of the insert.

7. A back portion, for a pin-back button, comprising a rear wall having an aperture from the periphery of which a flange having a cross sectional area increasing in the direction towards the interior of the button back to define an undercut, means on said flange to form a stop at the inner end of said undercut and a springmetal pin-receiving insert disposed in said undercut, said insert being locked against inward movement by abutment against said stop means and being locked against outward movement by engagement with said undercut.

8. A back portion, as claimed in claim 7, wherein the insert has a correspondingly frusto-conical side wall which forms a snug fit within said undercut.

9. A back portion, as claimed in claim 8 wherein said stop means is a radially inwardly directed lip positioned at the inner end of the flange.

10. A back portion, as claimed in claim 9, wherein said lip is a rim portion of the flange swaged inwardly to abut against the inner end of the side wall of the insert.

11. A back portion, as claimed in claim 8, wherein the axial depth of the undercut and the axial depth of the insert are the same, whereby the rear face of the insert is in the same plane as the rear wall of the button back.

12. The method of making a button back as claimed in claim 10 which includes the steps of positioning the insert in the undercut and thereafter swaging the rim of the flange radially inwardly to abut against the inner end of the side wall of the insert.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent 3, 785, 010 Dated January 15, 1974' In nt It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 4, line 17, "from" should be on-;

Column 4, line 18, after "which" insert is-.

Signed and sealed this 10th day of June 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. MARSHALL DANN 

1. A back portion, for a pin-back button, comprising a rear wall having an aperture from the periphery of which a flange extends at an angle to said rear wall and towards the interior to define an undercut seating, means on said flange to form a stop at the inner end of said seating, and a spring-metal pin-receiving insert disposed in said seating, said insert being locked against inward movement by abutment against said stop means and being locked against outward movement by engagement with said undercut seating.
 2. A back portion, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flange defines a frusto-conical seating, and wherein the insert has a correspondingly frusto-conical side wall which forms a snug fit within said seating.
 3. A back portion, as claimed in claim 2 wherein said stop means is a radially inwardly directed lip positioned at the inner end of the flange.
 4. A back portion, as claimed in claim 3, wherein said lip is a rim portion of the flange swaged inwardly to abut against the inner end of the side wall of the insert.
 5. A back portion, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the axial depth of the seating and the axial depth of the insert are the same, whereby the rear face of the insert is in the same plane as the rear wall of the button back.
 6. The method of making a button back as claimed in claim 4 which includes the steps of positioning the insert in the seating and thereafter swaging the rim of the flange radially inwardly to abut against the inner end of the side wall of the insert.
 7. A back portion, for a pin-back button, comprising a rear wall having an aperture from the periphery of which a flange having a cross sectional area increasing in the direction towards the interior of the button back to define an undercut, means on said flange to form a stop at the inner end of said undercut and a spring-metal pin-receiving insert disposed in said undercut, said insert being locked against inward movement by abutment against said stop means and being locked against outward movement by engagement with said undercut.
 8. A back portion, as claimed in claim 7, wherein the insert has a coRrespondingly frusto-conical side wall which forms a snug fit within said undercut.
 9. A back portion, as claimed in claim 8 wherein said stop means is a radially inwardly directed lip positioned at the inner end of the flange.
 10. A back portion, as claimed in claim 9, wherein said lip is a rim portion of the flange swaged inwardly to abut against the inner end of the side wall of the insert.
 11. A back portion, as claimed in claim 8, wherein the axial depth of the undercut and the axial depth of the insert are the same, whereby the rear face of the insert is in the same plane as the rear wall of the button back.
 12. The method of making a button back as claimed in claim 10 which includes the steps of positioning the insert in the undercut and thereafter swaging the rim of the flange radially inwardly to abut against the inner end of the side wall of the insert. 